I Can Feel It When You Breathe
by Arwen Greenleaf No.1
Summary: Young elven prince is deeply troubled by something. Will it be too late for his dearest to save him? Legolas,Arwen and elves mostly,with a lot of drama,angst and romance. Not a Mary Sue,there will be slash in but not too much. Lot of AU,and a bit OOC


**I Can Feel It When You Breathe**

Ok, this is my first LOTR story ever and English is not my first language so I'm doing my best to make it look like I want to, but to improve my writing and mistakes I need reviews! So if you wanna flame me, then flame, I consider it as a good and strong critic!

This story will start a little before the Fellowship of the Ring was started; this first chapter is just a little introduction as how this all begins. The story will follow all the events that happened after the War of the Ring, so there will be a lot of my imagination, but after all this is a fic. The main character is Legolas and I assure you that this is not a Mary Sue, at least I think it's not but you'll judge that. I will try my best to portray the characters as they really are, sometimes I may go a little OOC but you're here to correct me, right? The appearance of the characters is taken from the movies but I may insert some bits from the book. Also I intend to make this an epic so it will be quite long. There will be slash in it too though it won't be too much.Almost every ship will be non-canon just because I planned it all that way, if you don't like it then just don't read it!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, I wish I could but I don't…ahh…everything belongs to the genius J.R.R. Tolkien and this fic is just for entertainment so don't sue me, please!

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**Chapter 1: How it all started **

_Somewhere in the Second age._

It was mid noon in the realm of Mirkwood.

A little elfling with long blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes sat in his room, waiting for his father to call him. A party from another elven realm-Rivendell, was expected to come today and he, as a crown prince of Mirkwood needed to welcome them as a proper prince would.

But the truth was that he was bored, all he wanted to do was go out and play, not wait for some party of elves that his Ada invited to help him solve problems his realm had. He couldn't do anything about that problems even if he tried, he was after all, just an elfling and Mirkwood was in great danger, as was the rest of Middle-earth with every day more and more.

The arriving elves would help his land and Ada. He didn't understand why he had to be there too.

Legolas sighed and walked to his bed. If he had to wait then he would entertain himself somehow. He picked up his favorite picture book and started perusing it once again, it was about Mirkwood and his forefathers that once lived here.

After awhile, there was a light knock on the door.

Legolas looked up, "Who is it?"

"Tis' me, your Ada, may I come in? "

As an answer Legolas quietly walked to the door and opened it. He smiled at the sight of his father and hugged him.

Thranduil picked up his snuggling son and closed the door.

"What were you doing ion-nin? "He asked while sitting Legolas on the bed.

"Nothing Ada, just waiting for you. " Legolas answered, "Do I really have to greet those elves from Rivendell? I have nothing to do with them and I'd rather go out and play with my friends." He was hoping he'd just talk over his Ada to let him out.

Thranduil smiled, "Yes, you must welcome them ion-nin, I would not force you to be there unless there is a reason, you know that."

Legolas looked at his father questioningly, "What kind of reason, Ada? "

"I just happen to know that a certain princess is riding this way with Lord Elrond and I would be delighted if you would meet her properly."

"A girl?" Legolas asked staring incredulously.

"Yes, an elleth my little Greenleaf. I expect that you will behave as a true prince should and talk to her, she will be staying here for awhile and I hope you will make her feel comfortable." Thranduil said while watching his son frowning even more.

Legolas looked up to his father's stern face and not wishing to test his luck answered; "Of course Ada!" he flashed Thranduil a large grin and hugged him once more.

Thranduil laughed at that. He loved his son with everything he had and to see him happy made his heart leap with joy. Legolas was indeed a wonderful child; no father could ever wish a better son.

"Well then, we should better prepare you for their reception ion-nin."

"But I am dressed; I don't need any more preparations!" Legolas immediately protested.

Thranduil smiled lovingly, "I do not doubt that you are dressed but you are not in your formal robes and that is what you are going to wear, also we need to fix your hair. I know that you didn't comb it." Princeling grinned sheepishly at his father.

The older elf rose from bed, "I will send maids to dress you, Imladris's party should be arriving soon, so we better hurry up. Someone will inform you and take you to the main hall when they come, alright Greenleaf?"

Legolas nodded and sat down on bed.

Thranduil kissed his son on the cheek and smiled before he left.

A girl, he didn't know many girls. Sure, he knew few of them but they were boring. In fact every girl he knew was boring. He reconciled with the fact that he would just have to suffer a bit until she left. Besides, his Ada said she would be here only awhile so he would be with her as much as necessary, he could suffer that much.

He sighed once again and looked around the room. After a few moments, two maids knocked and entered, they hurriedly dressed Legolas in his formal robes which contained a beautiful lighter green tunic with silver Mirkwood leaves and marks on it, and darker green leggings. After dressing him they quickly combed his hair, made two little braids in it and put crown on his head which indicated his status as a prince of Mirkwood.

With everything done, Legolas looked adorable. Just then a guard came in and announced that the royal party from Imladris has arrived.

Legolas followed the guard who led him to his father at the main hall where the guests were.

As soon as he reached it, he saw his Ada and an elf with long dark hair, who he guessed was Lord Elrond of Rivendell, he noticed a few other elves with dark hair standing there too but he didn't look very closely at everyone, instead he hurried to his Ada.

Thranduil and Elrond stopped talking when Legolas approached.

Lord Elrond smiled to the small elfling, "You must be Legolas."

Legolas looked to dark elf and nodded, "Aye M'lord, then I guess you must be Lord Elrond."

Elrond bowed his head a bit, "You guessed well, little one. I have heard a lot about you. Your Ada praises you very much." he looked again at Thranduil who smiled back at his son.

"Yes, I suppose we always only have praise for our children, don't we?" The blonde elven king asked.

"When it is truth, we do, but Elladan and Elrohir, well, all I can say that mischief never ends in their lives." Thranduil and Elrond laughed at that.

Just then did Legolas notice a small figure hiding behind Lord Elrond, it couldn't be taller than him but about the same height.

Elrond noticed where Legolas was looking so he moved a little and revealed a small elven girl. She had long dark hair just as her father and her eyes were crystal blue, they were like Legolas's eyes but yet, very different. She wore a bright purple dress that matched her perfectly.

"This is Arwen, my daughter and Arwen; this is Legolas, prince of Mirkwood." Lord Elrond introduced them to each other and both of them just nodded.

"Since I hope you two will spend a little more time together while Arwen is here it would be great if you would meet each other a bit more. You can go wherever you want to just not out of our borders, understood?" Thranduil looked from Arwen to Legolas and as they both nodded again he looked over at Elrond and inclined his head as a sign to follow him.

Before he went after Thranduil, Lord Elrond said to two elflings,"Have a good time." and with that he left.

The little prince and princess just stood there a few moments, looking at each other and saying nothing.

Finally Legolas spoke, "Do you want to go outside?"

A small smile broke on Arwen's features, "Alright, let's go!"

Legolas led the way. They rounded a few corridors, passed a few doors and marching guards, shortly they were near the big gates. When guards noticed it was Prince Legolas they opened them. As soon as they passed them, everything brightened up from the daylight; they weren't in a dark cave anymore. There was a bridge and a fast river coursed under it, it seemed pure but was dark and also very strong. They passed the bridge and headed to the wood.

Two little companions walked awhile through the wood and went farther; they kept walking until they couldn't clearly see the big gates anymore.

"So, what would you like to do?" Asked the little prince and turned around to look at Arwen who was behind him.

She walked closer and shrugged, "I do not know, this territory is unfamiliar to me so I cannot really tell…" Arwen looked around a bit, watching the mysterious, yet beautiful forest. It was different from any forest she ever saw, considered that she was in not so many of them, but still, anyone could see the beauty and charm of the old wood.

"Well, I don't know either." Princeling looked around too and then lowered his head.

"I think you should know." Legolas quickly looked up at Arwen who was smiling knowingly at him.

Was she hinting at something? No, not again! Just when he thought they could actually go without it! All girls are the same, that's the real truth, he concluded at the end, careful not to let any emotions slip on his face.

"Oh, well then… You want to go braid my hair, comb it or something like that I suppose?" Legolas said, not so willingly. It was indeed very boring and he didn't like it at all but his Ada told him to treat the princess nicely.

Arwen frowned and stared at Legolas incredulously, "Why would I want to go braid your hair?"

"All the girls always want to braid or comb my hair, in fact that and watching us boys while practicing archery is the only thing they want to do. So I thought you want too, because if you do, I don't mind, that much…" Legolas answered truthfully, he didn't know what to think really.

Arwen giggled and shook her head amused, "I still don't understand why I would want to braid your hair silly! You have maids and servants, and besides, it is already braided. I am a princess as much as you are a prince; I'm certainly not planning on braiding your hair! And those girls that wanted to braid your hair, I find that really stupid! Where's the fun in that?" she said all truth right in his face.

That apparently amazed the young prince; no one ever talked to him like that, except maybe his father so he just stared at her a few moments, "Wwwell I…I know that, they truly are boring with all of it. That is why I think all girls are stupid. They can never have fun; it is not like having fun is forbidden! And I know you are a princess, I just thought that you will want it too." he shifted uncomfortably from one leg to another, "But I am really glad I'm wrong this time!" Legolas tried to broke the awkward moment by saying it at the end and grinning happily at Arwen.

He succeeded, because Arwen smiled back at him, "I am glad we cleared that up then! Now, what are we really going to do?"

"I truly do not know…"

"You must have some ideas, unless, you want to braid _my_ hair prince? Don't be so shy to ask…" She teased him a little and smiled as she noticed how he blushed slightly at her words.

So, Arwen definitely was different, she wasn't just like any other girl that wanted to braid his hair and praise him to no end for nothing, just because he was a prince. No, she was normal, her thoughts and words were sincere. She was honest with him and that not so many people dared to or even wanted to be, and the ones that did were not of his age. All the others would rather just lie, not because they were mean and that was their main priority, it was because of his status as a royal prince he couldn't find a trustworthy friend. But maybe that situation was about to change soon...

"No, I would rather skip that part." Legolas's lips curved into a wicked grin. "Besides I have a great idea now! Come on!" He ran past Arwen skipping a large root as he did so.

"That's much better!" Without hesitation, she hurried after him.

Legolas ran through forest, skillfully avoiding every tree and occasionally glancing behind just to check if Arwen was still following him. She ran with all her might to catch up with him but since she was in a long dress that fell all the way to the floor she couldn't run freely and as fast. There were a few times that she almost accidentally tripped and fell but she managed to balance back somehow and continue running. If this was some kind of test Legolas was putting her than she'd ensure to pass it.

After a while the thick forest started to get sparser and the air was fresher than before. They kept running until there was no forest anymore, they came to a grassy clearing that looked like a tiny spot somewhere in the big wood that surrounded them. There were many kinds of flowers; each special in its own way with its own scent, the whole meadow smelled and looked divine.

"We are here! Do you like it?" Legolas turned to Arwen with a smile plastered on his face.

Arwen closed her eyes, inhaling every scent from the meadow, this reminded her of Lórien meadows, and they were also full of flowers. Her grandmother's land was beautiful, it was a woodland realm such as Mirkwood but they were completely different.

"It is nice, I love it!" She responded smiling back to him.

"I am glad; I thought you may like it."

"I truly do…" Arwen looked around again, this was a really nice place, peaceful yet very much alive, she wondered why Legolas truly brought her there. "Why are we here though? Do you have something planned out to do?"

"Yes, we practice archery here so I thought we could do it for awhile, if you agree of course." Legolas was saying this while walking farther down the clearing, careful not to step on too many flowers, which was pointless because even if he did, his steps were so light that he couldn't harm any flower that much.

"Archery?" Arwen frowned and quickly followed Legolas. "I am not allowed to practice archery, my Ada says I'm still too young to learn battle skills and that first I should learn how to act as a real lady, skills will come in time." She stopped for a moment rethinking, this was her new friend and there will be no real friendship between them if she wasn't honest. "But actually, I would like to fight, I don't find myself too young and every boy of my age can do it."

"Well, your Ada is not right here at the moment and I say you can practice just as everyone else, you can think of it as a little introduction with our land, Mirkwood's archers are really skillful!"

Arwen clearly heard Legolas's enthusiastic voice, she always wanted to hold a bow and shoot like her brothers did, to at least try to practice archery; but her Ada declined every time, her Naneth would maybe even allow it but she couldn't go against Ada's word. She was doomed to wait until she was ready in her father's eyes but now she had a chance and she doubted anyone would ever find out or judge her for it.

"Well… Alright then! Though I never held a bow or shoot before, I just watched my brothers do it. I do not know anything of this matter…" Arwen's face saddened as she spoke these last words and Legolas didn't fail to notice it.

"That is not a problem at all! If you never did archery before then it is most certainly time for you to learn it! And I am right here ready to help you! So, what do you say? Will you at least try?"

He saw how she brightened up immediately and a grin spread across her face, "I most certainly will!" eyes sparkling like diamonds she turned her head to the shooting targets she failed to notice before and promptly headed to them, they were just a little advance.

Legolas smiled also and came after her; this would surely be a delightful way to spend time in the company of his new friend.

They spent the rest of the day practicing archery, Legolas taught Arwen as much as he could for he was only a beginner too, but nevertheless he was great. She was improving with every arrow she shot and she just loved it. Legolas talked about Mirkwood and all the things they could do there, about he and his friend's mischief and she listened because it all reminded her of her brothers. She wished she could do all that, but she didn't have anyone to do it with, she doubted any of her friends would ever wish to do such thing as play a prank on someone, they were all ladies and boys didn't want to be around some girl. That is why she envied her brothers sometimes very much. Still, she didn't know Legolas felt quite the similar way.

The sun was slowly setting on the horizon and a light wind started to blow when they finally decided to leave. It was a good day and they had loads of fun but now it was time to go back, their Adas would surely be looking for them by now.

That day a friendship was made, a friendship that would last. Not the type that you forget the next day. A bond of love and trust tied them. Even the Valar had to turn their heads and look at the destiny these two young elflings had, yet the smallest things can change the course of history; and that day while the sun was setting it _did_.

Ada- dad

Naneth- mother

Elleth- girl

Well if you've come this far, at least let me know what you think! Please review!

The next chapter is happening just some time before the Fellowship started and I'll try to update as soon as I can.


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